Department for Communities and Local Government

Muslim Council of Britain

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they last met the Muslim Council of Britain.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: The Government meets with many organisations on a broad range of matters relevant to Muslim communities. Additionally Dame Louise Casey, a serving civil servant, and her review team met representatives of the Muslim Council of Britain as part of her independent review into integration and opportunity.

Local Government: Newspaper Press

Lord Porter of Spalding: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 19 December 2016 (HL3833), whether they plan to publish a formal written response to the findings of the local pilot programmes on statutory notices.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: We are in the process of considering the findings of the pilot programmes. Once we have concluded that consideration, we will decide how best to respond.

Hate Crime

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what actions they intend to take to increase the level of reporting of crimes inspired by racial or religious hatred; and what assessment they have made of whether a confidential telephone line would improve reporting rates.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: The Government's Hate Crime Action Plan published last year outlined a range of activities to increase reporting across all hate crime strands. The National Police Chiefs’ Council and officials from the cross-Government Hate Crime programme work closely with helpline providers such as Stop Hate UK to help improve the service they offer to victims and to share good practice.

Community Relations

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, following the Casey Review, they intend to consult religious and community leaders at regional and city level about appropriate measures to improve community cohesion and common citizenship.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: Yes we intend to step up our ongoing engagement with a wide range of community groups and people, including religious and community leaders at a local level, as we develop our plans to improve cohesion, integration and citizenship.

Public Sector: Ministers of Religion

Lord Murphy of Torfaen: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to work with existing faith groups which have a strong history of providing training for faith leaders in public institutions.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: The Government works with a range of faith groups and I regularly meet faith leaders and representatives of faith community groups as part of my role as Minister for Faith and Integration.

Leader of the House of Lords

Written Questions: Government Responses

Lord Jopling: To ask the Leader of the House whether the failure on 10 January of the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice to answer Questions for Written Answer which had been tabled in November 2016 was in part due to those departments not being fully staffed to normal levels in the days following the bank holiday on 2 January.

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park: As Leader of the House I take very seriously the responsibility incumbent on all Ministers to provide full, timely and comprehensible answers to Questions for Written Answer (QWAs). My office immediately approaches departments who have not responded to questions after 10 working days, and remains in contact with them until the questions are answered.I am informed that due to ongoing technical problems with software used by the Home Office for processing answers to QWAs, the usual clearance process has experienced delays since October which have caused a backlog. I have been assured that steps have now been taken to safeguard against the problem reoccurring.The Ministry of Justice recognise recent reductions in performance with regard to QWA responses, which I am informed is due to a reduction in resources​ ​as ​a result of process and system changes. The Department has assured me that they have taken steps to rectify this, including making further process improvements.I have written to the Secretaries of State for both Departments to stress the importance of providing full and timely responses to QWAs and have written to my front bench team to reiterate the House’s expectations in the light of recent performance.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Minimum Wage

Lord Beecham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further tothe Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 3 January (HL4167), whether all of the penalties and sums required to remedy underpayments have been paid;whether, and if so how many of, the employers subject to penalties or a requirement to remedy underpayments failed to do so; and what criteria are applied in determining whether or not to prosecute defaulting employers.

Lord Prior of Brampton: HM Revenue and Customs maintains data on arrears recovered in all cases – and actively pursues recovery through the civil courts where this is not paid. Due to the way this data is maintained, the requested figures could only be provided at disproportionate cost. The criteria for prosecuting National Minimum Wage offences are outlined in the Government’s minimum wage enforcement policy document, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/539577/bis-16-373-enforcement-policy-document-national-minimum-wage.pdf. 



Enforcement policy, National Minimum Wage
(PDF Document, 602.59 KB)

Employment Tribunals Service

Lord Beecham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 4 January (HL4265), what costs have been incurred in relation to the issue of warning notices; how many recipients of warning notices complied with them; what was the total amount of compensation paid by compliant employers; what costs have been incurred in relation to the issue of penalty notices; how many recipients of penalty notices complied with them; how much was recovered under the penalty notice process; and what steps are taken to adviseand support claimants in relation to the failure of employers to comply with employment tribunal orders to pay compensation.

Lord Prior of Brampton: Costs incurred in the issuing of warning letters and penalty notices are minimal because they are part of the administrative process delivered by the Employment Tribunal penalties team in the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Of the 168 warning letters issued, 29 recipients have responded by making payments bringing the total previously unpaid awards recovered by the Department to just under £99,500. 60 penalty notices have been issued and one recipient has complied by paying the outstanding amount of £750 and a penalty of £187.50 which, under the arrangements of the regime, goes to the Government. HM Courts & Tribunals Service issue booklet T426 to claimants, which accompanies every employment tribunal judgment, about the enforcement routes available to them to pursue unpaid compensation awards. The information can be found on page 6 of the attached booklet.  The option for claimants is to inform the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s Employment Tribunal penalties team of non-payment of their award, 42 days after the employment tribunal award was made to allow for appeal. For Acas conciliated settlements, the claimant can submit a complaint if payment has not been received by the date agreed as part of the settlement. The team will advise claimants on next steps to take to recover the unpaid awards.



Presidential Guidance
(PDF Document, 296.83 KB)

Carbon Emissions

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how the contribution of cities and local government will be examined in the forthcoming emissions reduction plan.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is looking ahead to the emissions reduction plan, which will set out how we will decarbonise across the UK through the 2020s. The benefits of local energy projects include increased economic growth, carbon reduction, improved public health and welfare, and cost reduction. Support for local energy aligns with and complements other work across Government, including devolution and the provision of flexibility and decision making powers to local areas. Officials are already actively engaging with Local Enterprise Partnerships, Local Authorities, the community energy sector and other local partners to support delivery of local energy projects which contribute to the achievement of national objectives.

Climate Change and Energy

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made in implementing their Memorandum of Understanding with the Local Government Association on energy and climate change issues.

Lord Prior of Brampton: There is an existing Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Department for Energy and Climate Change and the Local Government Association (LGA) which previous Ministers agreed in 2013. Following the machinery of Government change last year, officials in Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy are continuing to meet with the LGA to identify ways to enhance this and move the MOU forward for the whole of the new department.

Solar Power

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the latest forecasts for the capacity and generation of electricity by solar photovoltaics for each year up to 2025.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The latest renewables capacity forecasts are published in Energy and Emissions Projections 2015; however, these are not split by technology.It is challenging to make such forecasts due to the large number of installations involved, the speed of installation and the continuing fall in costs; these factors mean that long-term forecasts are unlikely to be either accurate or helpful.

Employment Tribunals Service

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 4 January (HL4265), how many previously unpaid awards are included in the sum of £83,000 secured under the Employment Tribunal Penalty regime to date.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The updated amount of unpaid awards secured under the Employment Tribunal Penalty regime is now just under £99,500. This equates to 29 previously unpaid awards.

Fuels: Prices

Baroness Quin: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what recent studies they have undertaken into retail petrol and diesel price differences across the nations and regions of the UK.

Baroness Quin: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what information they have about retail petrol and diesel price differences across the UK.

Lord Prior of Brampton: Her Majesty’s Government believes that a competitive market is the best way to keep prices low. Retail fuels markets are subject to UK competition law under the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy does not collect statistics by the nations or the regions of the UK but it does publish weekly UK statistics retail petrol and diesel prices: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/oil-and-petroleum-products-weekly-statistics. On 9 January 2017 the average retail price for petrol and diesel was 118.0 pence per litre and 121.3 pence per litre respectively. The AA publishes data on regional retail petrol and diesel price differences across the UK: http://www.theaa.com/driving-advice/driving-costs/fuel-prices.



Weekly fuel prices
(Excel SpreadSheet, 247.75 KB)




AA report
(PDF Document, 212.6 KB)




AA website
(PDF Document, 202.38 KB)

Industry

Lord Touhig: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer given by Earl Howe on 9 January (HL Deb, col 1728), on what date they plan to publish their National Industrial Strategy.

Lord Touhig: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer given by Earl Howe on 9 January (HL Deb, col 1728), which defence companies were consulted on their National Industrial Strategy.

Lord Prior of Brampton: We aim to publish a Green Paper on our Industrial Strategy in the coming weeks. The publication of the Green Paper will continue the open and collaborative dialogue to develop the new strategy and we look forward to receiving contributions from people and organisations across the country, including from the defence sector.

Insolvency: EU Law

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the UK economy of the non-applicability of the European Insolvency Regulation following the UK's withdrawal from the EU.

Lord Prior of Brampton: Departments are undertaking analysis to understand the impacts that withdrawal from the EU will have on businesses and consumers. This analysis will include engagement with as many organisations, companies and institutions as possible. This will allow the Government to understand the impact that withdrawal from the EU will have on businesses and consumers, and to seize the opportunities of leaving the EU.The Government remains committed to making Britain the best place in Europe to own and grow a business. That includes supporting those businesses that trade with the EU and wider international markets, as well as continuing to encourage record foreign direct investment that supports business and communities up and down the country.

Insolvency: EU Law

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the non-applicability of the European Insolvency Regulation following the UK's withdrawal from the EU on the ability of insolvency practitioners in EU countries to work on cross-border insolvencies in the UK.

Lord Prior of Brampton: Departments are undertaking analysis to understand the impacts that withdrawal from the EU will have on businesses and consumers. This analysis will include engagement with as many organisations, companies and institutions as possible. This will allow the Government to understand the impact that withdrawal from the EU will have on businesses and consumers, and to seize the opportunities of leaving the EU.As my rt. hon. Friend the Prime Minister said, we want British companies to have the maximum freedom to trade with and operate in the Single Market – and to let European businesses to do the same here.

Accountancy: EU Law

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they are having with professional accountancy bodies to explore the case for the continued applicability of the Statutory Audit Directive and the Directive on the Recognition of Professional Qualifications following the UK's withdrawal from the EU, enabling qualified UK auditors and chartered accountants to work in other EU member states, with a view to including this issue in negotiations with the EU.

Lord Prior of Brampton: Officials at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy meet regularly with representatives of the statutory audit and chartered accountancy professions. The Government is engaging with businesses from a range of sectors to understand their key concerns in order to secure the best possible deal as part of our future relationship with Europe.

Green Investment Bank

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will include a provision in the sale agreement of the Green Investment Bank to require a clawback of all, or a significant part, of any disposal proceeds, and whether they intend to publish at the time of the sale the scale of such disposals they anticipate.

Lord Prior of Brampton: Details of the sale negotiations are commercially confidential.Government will provide a full report to Parliament once a sale is completed which will set out the details of the sale and how our objectives (including value for money) were met.

Green Investment Bank

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty’s Government who will advise them on the acceptability of the proceeds to be achieved by the sale of the Green Investment Bank; and what is the process by which the Secretary of State will establish his view on value after receiving this advice.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The sale of the Green Investment Bank (GIB) is being led by UK Government Investments, with advice from Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Herbert Smith Freehills. GIB and their advisors (UBS and Slaughter and May) are also providing significant and closely coordinated support.The Government is following the National Audit Office’s recommendations on asset sales in carrying out the sale of shares in GIB, as set out in the document “Green Investment Bank: sale of shares” laid before Parliament on 3 March 2016.

Small Business Commissioner

Baroness Golding: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 11 May 2016 (HL8016), what further progress has been made towards appointing the proposed Small Business Commissioner to help small businesses resolve payment disputes with large businesses.

Lord Prior of Brampton: We expect to appoint the Commissioner in 2017 and we continue to make progress on implementation. Our public consultation on the policy for regulations underpinning the Commissioner’s complaints handling function closed in December and we are preparing the Government Response.

Manufacturing Industries: Imports

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government in the light of the higher costs of importing materials as a consequence of the fall in the value of the pound sterling, what steps they are taking to support the manufacturing sector.

Lord Prior of Brampton: We are supporting manufacturers by cutting corporation tax to 17% by 2020 and slashing red tape by a further £10billion. We are investing in new scientific infrastructure on a record scale by delivering on the £6.9bn science capital commitment in our manifesto, and at Autumn Statement 2016 we announced that we will make the UK the global go-to nation for scientists, innovators and advanced manufacturing investors, by investing an extra £2bn a year in R&D by the end of this Parliament. As part of this, there will be a new Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF) to back priority technologies – such as robotics and biotechnology – where the UK has the potential to turn strengths in research into a global industrial and commercial lead.It is true to say that, for some manufacturers, input costs have increased due to the Pound’s depreciation. However the depreciation helps UK manufacturers that export, since their products become more competitive to foreign buyers. The latest manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index survey shows new exports for manufacturers increasing for the seventh successive month.The most recent data from the Office for National Statistics show that the total trade deficit narrowed by £0.4bn to £11.0bn in the three months to November, and that manufacturing output increased by 0.3%.We are not complacent and we know that promoting trade delivery is more important than ever for the UK: the creation of the Department for International Trade demonstrates clearly that the Government is committed to promoting international trade and investment in manufacturing.

Department for International Development

Corruption: Developing Countries

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what use has been made of the £180 million in stolen assets recovered with the support of the Department for International Development since 2006.

Lord Bates: The process of asset recovery through the criminal justice system involves a number of stages, and in respect to work funded by DFID represents a range of cases which are at different stages of the process. At present, approximately £180m is frozen in connection with DFID-funded law enforcement investigations into the proceeds of grand corruption. Since 2006, these efforts have resulted in the permanent confiscation of £8.4m, of which over £1.1m has been returned to the Government of Nigeria as part of the UK’s obligations under the UN Convention Against Corruption; with the balance of confiscated assets to be returned at the conclusion of all legal proceedings. UK law enforcement investigators continue to gather evidence to progress cases related to the remaining frozen assets

Developing Countries: Property

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of British development aid is used to help poor countries establish secure titles to property and efficient registers of land ownership.

Lord Bates: Improving land governance and poor people’s tenure security is an important priority of the UK Government’s work on agriculture and economic development.Approximately 0.05% (£5.6 million) of UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) in 2014 and 0.1% (£12.5 million) in 2015 was used to support standalone programmes to establish secure titles to land and support land administration systems. This represents only a proportion of total UK funding to support poor people’s land tenure security as it (a) does not include land titling activities that are a component of other programmes or (b) other activities that underpin property rights, such as improving land governance policy or promoting responsible agricultural investment. There is no globally agreed ODA spending code for land tenure programmes so compiling further details is difficult at present.

Corruption

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which UN and other multilateral aid and development agencies are affected by corruption.

Lord Bates: The UK expects all multilateral organisations to have a zero tolerance approach to fraud and corruption; acting immediately if it is found, working with authorities to bring perpetrators to account and pursuing aggressive loss recovery approaches. The Multilateral Development Review confirmed that of the multilateral agencies that DFID funds, the systems in place to prevent, detect and combat fraud range in their quality. The multilateral development banks included in the report have some of the best developed systems to prevent fraud.

Pakistan: Education

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Bates on 5 December 2016 (HL3360) and on 20 December 2016 (HL4307) concerning the independent assessment of the implementation of the 2006 national curriculum by the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Department for International Development (DfID)-funded Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Education Support Programme, whether the Support Programme aims to remove all forms of bias; what mechanisms have been used, or are planned to be used, to examine bias in the Urdu text books in the province; what meetings taken place between DfID officers and officials from the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; and whether DfID is planning to extend similar support to other provincial governments in Pakistan.

Lord Bates: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Education Support Programme is supporting the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to review and revise textbooks for grades 1 to 12 in English, Mathematics, General Knowledge and Science. The aim is to improve their quality and ensure they are in line with the 2006 National Curriculum, which places a strong emphasis on peaceful co-existence and unity in diversity. The government is not yet reviewing the Urdu and Islamiyat textbooks. The decision on when to do so rests with them. DFID officials hold regular meetings with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Elementary and Secondary Education Department, including Quarterly Steering Committee meetings, where textbook reforms have been discussed. DFID regularly raises the importance of eliminating bias or prejudice in textbooks. DFID is providing similar support to the government of Punjab to review and replace textbooks to reflect the 2006 curriculum.

Pakistan: Education

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 5 December 2016 (HL3360) concerning the Department for International Development-funded Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Education Support Programme, what are the terms of reference of the programme, and what is the programme number.

Lord Bates: The objective of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Education Support Programme is to improve primary and secondary education in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by providing budget support and technical assistance to the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and school construction. This aims to benefit all primary and secondary children in the province by 2020. The programme number on the public Development Tracker is GB-1-202328.

Burma: Overseas Aid

Baroness Goudie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, and if so to what extent, UK Aid to Burma is conditional on the compliance with human rights by the government of Burma.

Lord Bates: The UK does not provide funding directly to the Government of Burma. The UK’s bilateral aid programme is implemented through UN agencies, international finance institutions, local and international NGOs and commercial partners.

Burma: Rohingya

Baroness Goudie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, and if so to what extent, they are collaborating with the government of Bangladesh to support of the Burmese Rohingya people currently in refugee camps in Bangladesh.

Lord Bates: The UK is providing emergency food relief to the new refugees through the World Food Programme. The UK is also the largest provider of food aid to the 34,000 Rohingya refugees already living in official camps in Bangladesh. In Bangladesh we are also increasing access to nutrition, health and education services for refugees living in makeshift settlements and the host communities that support them.

Burma: Overseas Aid

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much UK aid was sent to Myanmar in the latest year for which figures are available; and whether any of that aid was earmarked to help the Rohingya Muslims living in the west, or Roman Catholics living in the east, of that country.

Lord Bates: In financial year 2015-16, the UK spent £105.3m of overseas development assistance in Burma through its bilateral country programme. No financial aid was provided to the Government of Burma. DFID allocates aid on the basis of need and according to principles that ensure that no-one is discriminated against on the grounds of race, religion or ethnicity. DFID has long been one of the biggest bilateral humanitarian donors in Burma, notably Rakhine State and the east of the country. DFID is currently managing to get humanitarian support to over 100,000 people in Rakhine, including providing assistance in internally displaced people camps outside of northern Rakhine and some limited support in northern Rakhine. We have a large programme funding humanitarian assistance to displaced and conflict-affected people in government and non-government controlled areas of Kachin, northern Shan and south east Burma.

BBC Media Action

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much has been paid to BBC Media Action in the last five years and for what particular purposes; whether evaluations by the Department for International Development found spending objectives have been achieved; and whether there are plans to continue these payments.

Lord Bates: In the five years to November 2016 the Government provided approximately £101 million directly to BBC Media Action, including £86 million from DFID and £15 million from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Conflict Stability and Security Fund. DFID also provided approximately £17 million subcontracted via other programmes.The direct funding has included work to improve people’s access to health information, resilience to natural disasters and community dialogues to foster peace and accountability. DFID’s reviews of its global programme have assessed that objectives were exceeded, for example 92 million people in Africa and Asia have been reached through targeted radio and television programmes and public service advertisements designed to improve the health of mothers and their children. In 2016, 60% reported adopting healthier behaviours on issues such as antenatal care, breastfeeding and safe delivery.The DFID global programme will end in 2017 but other programmes will continue beyond 2017. Future funding by HMG will be determined on a case by case basis and depend on robust value for money assessments.

Syria: Humanitarian Aid

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what humanitarian aid is being sent to the Syrian villages of Wadi Barada following the bombing and attacks by heavy artillery, rocket bombardment and gun and sniper fire in early January.

Lord Bates: The UK is supporting the UN and its partners to provide blankets, sleeping bags and other emergency assistance to those displaced by the fighting in Wadi Barada. The UN are being prevented from delivering support into Wadi Barada itself by the Regime and its allied militia. The UN has called on all sides to allow safe and unimpeded humanitarian access. Once safe access is secured, our humanitarian partners’ priorities will be to respond to food and water shortages and serious medical cases.

Overseas Aid

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the findings by the Independent Commission for Aid Impact in their report The effects of DfID's cash transfer programmes on poverty and vulnerability, published on 12 January, that a quarter of recipients of aid aimed at the poorest 25 percent of the population were above the threshold; and whether they intend to review the effectiveness of cash transfer programmes.

Lord Bates: ICAI referred to a cash transfer programme in Pakistan where 25% of beneficiaries were above a set threshold. All beneficiaries were living on less than 90 pence per day and 75% of them were living on less than 75 pence per day. These people use cash transfers to buy food, clothing and healthcare, and to send their children to school. We continue to keep all DfID programmes under regular analysis and review.

Overseas Aid

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the findings by the Independent Commission for Aid Impact in their report The effects of DfID's cash transfer programmes on poverty and vulnerability, published on 12 January, that Department for International Development officials tolerate weaknesses in aid programmes and choose not to challenge partner countries on strongly held positions.

Lord Bates: The UK has a zero-tolerance approach to fraud and corruption and has robust systems in place to protect UK aid investments. DFID works alongside partner governments to support those most in need, while raising important issues at every level of government where necessary. As ICAI stated, this approach works: “During our visit to Rwanda, we found evidence that DFID’s policy advocacy had significantly influenced counterpart attitudes and beliefs. For example, it is now settled that people living with disabilities are an important target group; the assistance now focuses on how best to identify and target them.”

Rwanda: Overseas Aid

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they plan to take in relation to the provision of aid to Rwanda, in the light of the findings by the Independent Commission for Aid Impact in their report The effects of DfID's cash transfer programmes on poverty and vulnerability, published on 12 January, that the selection process for cash handouts "correlates only weakly with poverty levels".

Lord Bates: 60% of Rwandans live below the international poverty line (World Bank, $1.90 per day). DFID supports the Rwandan Government’s Vision Umurenge Programme which targets the extreme poor. Whilst the ICAI report notes that the VUP selection process “correlates only weakly with poverty levels”, according to recent data, 92% of those targeted live below the international poverty line. With DFID's support the Rwandan government has developed new targeting guidelines and a new management information system to improve this.

Zimbabwe: Children

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are providing money through child-focused programmes in Zimbabwe to families who do not have any children; and if so, why.

Lord Bates: DFID is one of a number of donors who funds the Harmonised Social Cash Transfer programme, referred to in the recent ICAI report.Of the targeted households under the scheme 83% have children to care for, but those headed by the elderly, the chronically ill or people living with disabilities are also eligible even if they are not caring for children.

Overseas Aid

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government in which management companies or consultancies organising or delivering aid former civil servants who were employed by the Department for International Development have a directorial or senior management role.

Lord Bates: Information on all ministerial and senior officials who applied to take up appointments after leaving DFID service and approved by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA) is published annually. The latest report is attached.Information about outside appointments or employment taken up by former members of DFID, and approved at Departmental level within the scope of the Business Appointment Rules, is published as part of DFID’s transparency commitment. This information is available on GOV.UK website. DFID’s Business Appointment Rules – January to June 2016 attached.



ACOBA Report 
(PDF Document, 1.25 MB)




DFID Business Appointment Rules - January to 2016 
(PDF Document, 128.12 KB)

Syria: Overseas Aid

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much financial aid they have sent to assist those affected by the civil war in Syria in each of the years (1) 2012, (2) 2013, (3) 2014, (4) 2015, and (5) 2016.

Lord Bates: Since February 2012 DFID has provided almost £1.5 billion in humanitarian support to those affected by the conflict in Syria. This support has helped millions of people inside Syria, and Syrian refugees and their host communities in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt. A breakdown of expenditure by calendar year is provided in the table below. Year20122013201420152016TotalTotal£48.7m£280.4m£277m£340.5m£549.9m£1,496.5m In addition, through the cross government Conflict, Stability and Security Fund, DFID has provided £45.7 million (financial years 2012/13 to 2015/16) to support local governance and basic services such as education, water, and electricity in Syria and the region.

Department for Education

Secondary Education: Headteachers

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many secondary schools in England are presently without a head teacher; and what action they are taking to improve the recruitment and retention of head teachers.

Lord Nash: The latest published data shows that in November 2015, 0.3% of secondary schools in England had a vacant head teacher post.The Government recognises that excellent leadership, together with high-quality teaching, is essential to improving pupil outcomes, thereby improving social mobility. We are committed to ensuring that there is a supply of high quality leaders in our schools and, whilst the recruitment and retention of head teachers is primarily a matter for governing bodies, we are supporting the system to develop and train the next generation of strong leaders and build leadership capacity.To do this, we have introduced a variety of measures, including: funding targeted programmes that aim to bolster the leadership pipeline where need is greatest, such as the High Potential Middle and Senior Leaders programmes; reforming the National Professional Qualifications for school leadership to set out the skills and knowledge needed to prepare leaders more effectively for the full range of leadership roles in the new schools system, and introducing new arrangements for leadership pay in 2014 to give schools greater flexibility to attract and retain strong leadership teams.

Pupils: English Language

Baroness Afshar: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Lord Nash on 11 January about the risk to children in unrecognised school settings or receiving home education, what specific measures are taken to help children who come from households where English is not spoken.

Lord Nash: The Government supports children from homes where English is not spoken in a number of ways. At present, it is up to local authorities to decide whether to include English as an Additional Language (EAL) as a factor in the local formulae for funding schools. 136 used an EAL factor in the current year, with per pupil values ranging from below £100 to over £3000. However, in our proposals for the National Funding Formula, currently under consultation, we have proposed that all children with EAL will attract an additional £515 (primary) or £1385 (secondary) to their school, for the first 3 years after they enter the state system, wherever they are in the country. This is proposed to come in from 2018-19.Where children are educating at home instead of in school, parents who educate a child at home must provide a full-time education suitable to the child’s age, ability and aptitudes, and it is likely that such an education would need to include lessons in English to meet that requirement.The Government also supports training for adults in English for Speakers of Other Language (ESOL): to enable unemployed people on benefits to get the skills they need to get into and stay in work; to support the integration of long-standing migrant communities and particularly those individuals most at risk of isolation from services and wider society; and to support refugees, especially Syrians, to resettle in the UK. DfE funds ESOL training through the Adult Education Budget, which is allocated to providers annually by the Skills Funding Agency. In 2015-16 just under £100m was devoted to ESOL provision.

Extracurricular Activities

Baroness Deech: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the comment by Lord Nash on 11 January (HL Deb, col 1953), when they will publish their response to the 2015 Department for Education consultation Out of School Education Settings: Call for Evidence.

Lord Nash: The Government remains committed to regulating out-of-school education settings. We received over 18,000 responses to the call for evidence and are taking great care in analysing them in order to ensure that the regulation we introduce to this diverse sector meets our aim. We want to ensure that action can be taken against settings which put children at risk, whilst not placing disproportionate burdens on the large number of settings that are providing a valuable service to their communities. We will respond to the call for evidence and set out next steps in due course.

Ministry of Justice

Probation

Lord Ramsbotham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by the Secretary of State for Justice on 6 December (HC Deb, col 110) concerning the comprehensive review of the probation system, why the review will not be completed until April 2017; whether they intend to provide an update on the interim findings; and whether the findings of the final review will be published.

Lord Keen of Elie: The review is considering how well the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms have worked and what changes, if any, are necessary to deliver the policy objectives of reducing reoffending and protecting the public. The timescales for the review reflect its broad scope and the need for close engagement with probation providers. The internal review will inform our more detailed plans which we will publish shortly after the review.

Prisons: Private Sector

Lord Beecham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the staffing ratio in private prisons in England and Wales in each year since 2009.

Lord Keen of Elie: Staff numbers in privately managed prisons are not the responsibility of NOMS and historically were not held. Arrangements are being made to capture and monitor these data as management information. Privately managed prisons continue to play an important role in the prison estate and performance of all providers is closely monitored. Private providers are required to maintain a sufficient number of staff, with the requisite level of skill and experience to ensure that the prison is a safe, secure and decent environment.

Prisoners: Families

Lord Murphy of Torfaen: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to improve support available to children and families of prisoners.

Lord Keen of Elie: As set out in our recent White Paper on Prison Safety and Reform, we are committed to giving prisoners the support and help they need to maintain and strengthen family ties. Lord Farmer, working in partnership with Clinks, has been commissioned to investigate how supporting men in prison to engage with their families can help reduce reoffending and assist in addressing intergenerational crime. He is expected to report this Spring. From this Autumn 2017, we will devolve the family service budgets to governors so that they have flexibility over how to spend it. In advance of that, we are re-procuring contracts so that governors have maximum flexibility and discretion to put in place the services that would best meet the needs of their prisoners. We are also reviewing best practice in existing service provision, including provision of family days and other family learning activities.

Prison Education Review

Lord Murphy of Torfaen: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps have they taken to implement the recommendations of Dame Sally Coates’ review of education in prisons Unlocking Potential: A review of education in prisons.

Lord Keen of Elie: The White Paper Prison Safety and Reform described the steps the Government has already taken to strip out unnecessary rules and governance from prison education contracts to allow governors more oversight and control. The document committed to implementing a number of recommendations from Dame Sally Coates’ review, and said that further plans will be set out in a detailed education strategy to be published later this year.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Dogs: Imports

Baroness Byford: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many puppies were imported into the UK for each of the past five years; and what health checks are required before such puppies reach their UK destination.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: Commercially imported dogs regardless of age are provided in the table below. YearDogsEither dogs or cats*2012608584520133596108201426399287201528344367201634017327  *Data does not distinguish between dogs and cats. All dogs imported from European Union Member States are required to have a valid rabies vaccination, be treated against tapeworm and have a valid pet passport which gives details of both the vaccine and the veterinarian who administered it. Dogs and cats imported from outside the EU go through a similar process but the health preparation requirements and certification documents differ according to the disease status in the country concerned. In 2013 the CVO working group confirmed that rescue dogs were being incorrectly imported under the Pet Travel Scheme. In 2014 APHA worked with charities who import rescue dogs to ensure that they were imported under commercial rules.

Dogs: Imports

Baroness Byford: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many prosecutions have been successful in respect of the illegal sale of imported puppies from Eastern Europe in each of the past five years.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: Centrally held records of prosecutions for people who have breached the law on the selling of pet animals do not include details of the origin of the animals involved. The Government has published guidance for buyers on the GOV.UK website. This includes a recommendation that those buying a puppy should ask to see it with its mother and in its natural environment. If anyone suspects that a seller of an imported dog or puppy is claiming that it was bred in the United Kingdom then they should contact trading standards in their local authority. We also advise prospective buyers that if the dog in question is born outside the UK to check the pet passport or veterinary certificate and that it is vaccinated against rabies and treated for tapeworm.

Flood Control: Somerset

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the effectiveness and sustainability of (1) current plans for the regular dredging of rivers on the Somerset levels to prevent flooding, and (2) channel widening of artificial rivers such as the Rover Sowy in order to move rainwater and floodwater more quickly to discharge into the sea.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: Dredging is one of a range of options available to the Environment Agency and is used as part of a regular maintenance schedule to manage flood risk on the Somerset Levels and Moors. The Somerset Rivers Authority, a partnership of all bodies involved in flood risk management in Somerset, has commissioned a study to look at the effectiveness and sustainability of dredging at a number of locations across the Somerset Levels and Moors. The outcome of this will inform future maintenance work in the area. The Environment Agency has a scheme in place to widen and improve the River Sowy and King Sedgemoor Drain which will increase the ability to remove flood water from the Parrett and Tone Moors. This scheme is considered a sustainable option for managing flood risk as this will require minimal maintenance in future years.

National Parks

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask Her Majesty’s Government (1) by how much funding to UK National Parks has been cut since 2010, (2) what is the future impact of decreased budgets on National Parks, and what assessments have been made of this, and (3) whether funding in 2020 will equal or exceed 2010 levels.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: Between 2010 and 2015 the national parks saw a reduction in budget of 8.9%, considerably lower than the overall reductions in budgets across Defra. We are committed to helping national park authorities thrive, which is why we have protected their budgets during the current spending review to 2020. We have committed over £350 million for English national parks, areas of outstanding natural beauty and public forests. This reflects the value we see in these protected landscapes and the strong support they receive from Defra. The current Spending Review runs until 2019/20 so we are unable to confirm what funding will be allocated to national parks beyond 2020. Nor has Government made any assessment of any future impact on decreased budgets - this will be for the national park authorities to make themselves. It will be for the next Government to decide what funding should go to national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty for 2020/21 onwards.

Animal Welfare

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are planning to review the penalties for animal welfare offences; and if so, when.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: The Government wants to see courts use the full range of penalties available. While there are no current proposals to increase the maximum penalties for animal welfare offences, we will continue to keep the maximum penalties for animal welfare offences under review.

Home Office

Terrorism: Internet

Lord Carlile of Berriew: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Islamist websites suspected of involvement in, or encouragement of, terrorism were removed from the internet in 2016 as a result of UK Government intervention and policy initiatives, including co-operation with internet service providers.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: This Government takes seriously the threat from online terrorist and extremist propaganda, which can directly influence people who are vulnerable to radicalisation.In the UK our dedicated police Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU) refers content that they assess as contravening UK terrorism legislation to industry. If industry agree that it breaches their terms and conditions, they remove it voluntarily. Since it was established in 2010, over 250,000 pieces of terrorist-related material, including websites, have been removed following CTIRU referrals.Industry cooperation with CTIRU has significantly improved leading to faster and more consistent removal of referred content, and they have established relationships with over 300 Communication Service Providers of differing sizes.

European Counter Terrorism Centre

Baroness Deech: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the Berlin Christmas market attack, what assessment they have made of the European Counter Terrorism Centre.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: The UK supports Europol’s efforts to assist Member States in addressing the key security threats emanating from firearms, finance, the internet, and serious and organised crime.As part of this, the UK welcomes the role of the European Counter-Terrorism Centre (ECTC) in disrupting terrorist activities, particularly in detection of international flows of terrorist financing and illegal firearms, and enhanced internet referrals. The ECTC can and does play an important complementary role in supporting Member States in important areas such as, terrorist financing (Europol Financial Intelligence Unit), foreign fighters (Europol Focal Point Travellers), and the removal of online terrorism related material (Europol Internet Referral Unit).

Immigration

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to review the application form, and process, for applying for UK residency status.

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many applications for UK residency status were (1) received, and (2) granted, in (a) 2014, (b) 2015, and (c) 2016.

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the breakdown by nationality of the people (1) applying for, and (2) granted, UK residency status in (a) 2014, (b) 2015, and (c) 2016.

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what were the main categories of reason for rejecting applications for UK residency in (1) 2014, (2) 2015, and (3) 2016.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: UK Visas & Immigration have introduced online application forms for EEA nationals applying for registration certificates and documents certifying permanent residence. There has been no change to the rights and status of EU nationals in the UK as a result of the referendum. As such there is no requirement to register for documentation to confirm their status.  The relevant figures for the number of applications received decided by EEA nationals and their family members seeking confirmation of a right of residence in the UK under the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006 between 2014 and September 2016 are shown on Table 1 in the attached table. As yet, there are no published figures for October to December 2016.



Residency Applications Table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 68.71 KB)

Refugees: Children

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the recommendations in December 2016 by Save the Children and UNICEF concerning the situation of child refugees in France, Italy and Greece, and, in particular, the case for improving family reunion rules.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: We welcome the recognition from Save the Children and UNICEF that the Government has made progress in facilitating the transfer of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children to the UK, and we will consider the recommendations made when developing future policy in this area.In 2016, we welcomed over 900 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children to the UK, including more than 750 from France as part of the UK’s support for the Calais camp clearance - almost half of the unaccompanied children who were in the camp at the time of the clearance.We continue to work closely with partners across Europe to ensure the timely and efficient operation of the Dublin Regulation, including the family reunification provisions. We have seconded experts to France and Greece, and we have a long-standing secondee in Italy to support the work on unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in Europe.

ICT: Fraud

Lord Lucas: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to require the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau via Action Fraud to record computer software service frauds, such as the Microsoft Technical Support scam, including instances where no money has been lost as a result of the scam.

Lord Lucas: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the Microsoft Technical Support scam, what assessment they have made of the level of such fraud and its consequences.

Lord Lucas: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the Microsoft Technical Support scam, whether they intend to use information acquired under the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 to help to reduce the level of such fraud.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: In the year to June 2016 (the latest published Action Fraud figures), there were 24,565 incidents of computer software service fraud, an increase of 2% when compared with the previous year (24,109 in year to June 2015).The Fraud Act 2006 is clear that fraud can be committed even where no money has been lost. Computer software service fraud should be reported to Action Fraud, the national reporting centre for fraud and online crime. All fraud reports made to Action Fraud are subsequently transferred to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB). The NFIB evaluates the reports to assess information available which could assist an investigation, and also to identify links between seemingly unconnected incidents and therefore build intelligence.This Government is committed to ensuring that law enforcement and the intelligence agencies have the tools they need to carry out the critical responsibilities Parliament has placed on them. One of the key aims of the Investigatory Powers Act is to ensure that investigatory powers are fit for a digital age and that crime can be investigated wherever it takes place, regardless of the method of communication.The Investigatory Powers Act, once brought into force, will provide that communications data may be acquired for the purpose of preventing or detecting crime, wherever that crime takes place, where an application for communications data meets the requirements for necessity and proportionality set out in the Act. This would, of course, include the use of the powers to investigate fraud and other related criminal offences.

Counter-terrorism

Lord Murphy of Torfaen: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they will define structured training in relation to their review of training for faith leaders in public institutions in the Counter-Extremism Strategy.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: The review is considering the training provided by public institutions to faith leaders of all faiths working in the prison service, health service, schools and higher and further education. The review is not examining the theological content of religious teaching.

Visas

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many successful applicants for Tier 1 (Investor) visas, between 2008 and 2015 inclusive, have been classified then or since as politically-exposed persons.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: I am sorry but the Home Office does not hold the specific information in the format requested.

Visas

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Tier 1 (Investor) visa applications were rejected between 2008 and 2015.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: Information on the numbers of grants, refusals, withdrawals and lapsed cases for Tier 1 (Investor) visa applications is published quarterly, latest data in the Home Office’s ‘Immigration Statistics, July – September 2016’, table vi_01_q (visa data tables volume 1), available from the GOV.UK website and attached to this answer.



Entry Clearance Visa Applications
(Excel SpreadSheet, 27.5 KB)

Visas

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Tier 1 (Investor) visa applications have been rejected since the tightening of conditions for acceptance in 2014–15.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: Information on the numbers of grants, refusals, withdrawals and lapsed cases for Tier 1 (Investor) visa applications is published quarterly, latest data in the Home Office’s ‘Immigration Statistics, July – September 2016’, table vi_01_q (visa data tables volume 1), available from the GOV.UK website and attached to this answer. 



Entry Clearance Visa Applications
(Excel SpreadSheet, 27.5 KB)

Visas

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many residence permits granted to Tier 1 (Investor) visa applicants have been rescinded since 2008; and on what grounds.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: I am sorry but the Home Office does not hold the specific information in the format requested. To obtain it would involve interrogating individual case records, incurring disproportionate cost.

Forced Marriage

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many cases the Forced Marriage Unit dealt with in 2015 and 2016 respectively, in which (1) British nationals under the age of 16, and (2) British nationals aged 16–17, were sent abroad in order to enter into a forced marriage.

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the total number of (1) British nationals under the age of 16, and (2) British nationals aged 16–17, sent abroad in 2016 in order to enter into a forced marriage.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: The UK is a world-leader in the fight to stamp out the brutal practice of forced marriage, with our joint Home Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) which leads efforts to combat it both at home and abroad. We made forced marriage a criminal offence in 2014 to better protect victims and send a clear message that this abhorrent practice is totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated in the UK.The FMU publishes statistics annually. The most recent statistics, published on 8 March 2016, show that the FMU gave advice or support related to a possible forced marriage in 1,220 cases. A breakdown shows that the FMU gave advice and support to 174 people between the ages of 1-15 and 155 people aged 16-17. A further breakdown of this information would incur a disproportionate cost.Statistics for 2016 will be published in due course.

HM Treasury

Minimum Wage

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 3 January (HL4167), how many of the 687 employers named and shamed for non-compliance with the national minimum wage since October 2013 identified further arrears, not included in the sum of arrears for which they were named, under the self-correction mechanism introduced by HM Revenue and Customs in 2015; what is the combined total of those further, self-corrected arrears; and to how many workers those further, self-corrected arrears were owed.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: Self-correction was introduced in 2015 and additional arrears recorded in 2015-16 data. Employers are not named for additional self-corrected arrears. Due to the small number of cases involved in addition to those provided in response to Written Question 52385, publishing aggregate self-correction data could allow individual employers to be identified, and would amount to naming them.

Wellesley and Co

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have reviewed the solvency of peer-to-peer lender Wellesley & Co. and the conduct of the firm's principals and owners.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: This is an operational matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who are operationally independent from Government. The FCA does not comment on individual firms. The FCA is currently carrying out a post-implementation review into their crowdfunding rules and published a statement before Christmas with their latest update on this. Peer-to-Peer lenders are also currently going through the FCA authorisations process, whereby the FCA will assess their business models against the threshold conditions. Where a firm does not meet FCA statutory standards they will not be authorised.

Royal Family: Travel

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 5 January (HL4266), which members of the Royal Family are in receipt of travel costs for undertaking official engagements.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The Sovereign Grant Annual Report and Accounts 2015-16 states that 3,000 official engagements were undertaken across the United Kingdom and overseas by members of the Royal Family during the year to 31 March 2016. In addition to The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh, members of the Royal Family undertaking Royal Travel during this period were The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Henry of Wales, The Duke of York, The Earl and Countess of Wessex, The Princess Royal, The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, The Duke of Kent, Prince and Princess Michael of Kent and Princess Alexandra.

Overseas Trade

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the report by the Cambridge Centre for Business Research in its report The Macro-Economic Impact of Brexit, as revised in January 2017, which concluded that the pre-referendum analysis by HM Treasury of the potential impact of Brexit on various outcomes for trade outside the EU was flawed, who drafted the forecasts, and what ministerial scrutiny was given to those forecasts prior to publication.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: HM Treasury published its analysis on the long-term economic impact of EU membership and the alternatives in April 2016, and it was approved by ministers. The Government continues to undertake a range of analysis to inform the UK’s position for the upcoming EU exit negotiations. We are seeking the best possible arrangements for the United Kingdom and the work being conducted reflects this.

Revenue and Customs: North East

Lord Beecham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of the National Audit Office’s critical report on the proposed closure of local tax offices in the North East and the consequent reduction of staff, they will withdraw the planned measure.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The National Audit Office Report recognises that HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) plans for regional centres are integral to its strategic aims to increase tax revenue and to transform the service it provides to customers. HMRC is reviewing timing and costs so while elements of its plans will change, there are no plans to change the strategy. The Newcastle Regional Centre is scheduled to open at the Longbenton site from 2018-19. HMRC expects to retain Washington as a transitional site until 2024-25.

Cabinet Office

History: Publications

Lord Lexden: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether plans have been made to continue the Official History programme.

Lord Young of Cookham: I refer the Noble Lord to the reply given by Lord Gardiner of Kimble during a QSD on Official Histories on 10 December 2015.Following the recent publication of the Official History of the Cabinet Secretaries by Ian Beesley, the Government is now working towards the publication of several more previously-announced volumes, including the second volume of the Official History of the Civil Service, further volumes of the Official Histories of the UK’s relationship with the European Union, the Joint Intelligence Committee and the nuclear deterrent, and the first volume of the Official History of the Criminal Justice System in the near future.As well as official histories, the Cabinet Office have also recently worked with Sir Anthony Seldon on a history of the Cabinet Office, published on the occasion of the department's centenary in December. In addition to this, the acclaimed online government history project continues with regular updates at https://www.gov.uk/government/history.

Department of Health

General Practitioners

Lord Birt: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the average number of days that general practitioner practices in England were continuously closed over the Christmas and New Year holidays.

Lord O'Shaughnessy: This Department does not hold this information. Core hours for general practices are defined in the GMS and PMS Regulations (The National Health Service (General Medical Services Contracts and Personal Medical Services Agreements) (Amendment) Regulations 2016, SI 2016 No.875). Core hours are 8am – 6:30pm Monday to Friday, except Good Friday, Christmas Day and bank holidays.

General Practitioners

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they consider that GPs are in breach of their terms of contract by preventing patients from raising more than one illness in an appointment.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the health of patients of being unable to raise more than one illness in an appointment with their GP and then having to wait for subsequent appointments.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they intend to take to stop GPs preventing patients from raising more than one illness in an appointment.

Lord O'Shaughnessy: There has been no national policy to limit general practitioner (GP) consultations to the discussion of one health concern per consultation. The General Medical Services regulations require the contractor to provide services to their registered and temporary resident patients which include ‘management’ of those patients who are or believe themselves to be ill, terminally ill or suffering from chronic disease. Within the regulations, ‘management’ is defined as offering consultation and where appropriate physical examination for the purposes of identifying the need, if any, for treatment or further investigation and making available such treatment as is necessary and appropriate including the referral of the patient for other services. Such services must be provided at such times within core hours (8am – 6.30pm) as are appropriate to meet the reasonable needs of patients. The length and type of consultation is not defined within the regulations, but what is required is that GP practices must specify in their practice leaflets the consultations available to patients, the opening hours of the practice and the method of obtaining services throughout core hours. The Department does not have a central policy on what can be raised in appointments. It is for individual practices to assess the needs of their patients and how best to meet them; we would expect those practices to listen to and respond to any feedback from their patients.

Medical Records: Data Protection

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 20 December 2016 (HL3943), and further to the remarks by the Secretary of State for Health on 25 February 2014 (HC Deb, col 148), that people should be able to opt out "from having their anonymised data used for the purposes of scientific research", whether such an opt out still covers hospital episode statistics, and if not, when they announced this change.

Lord O'Shaughnessy: Where a citizen has objected to the disclosure of personal confidential information by NHS Digital, more commonly referred to as a type 2 opt-out, their opt-out is being applied to personal confidential information (including Hospital Episode Statistics data) as set out in the Direction to NHS Digital from the Secretary of State. The Direction makes clear that data which are anonymised in accordance with the Information Commissioner’s Office’s (ICO) Anonymisation code of practice are not confidential information, therefore where Hospital Episode Statistics data are released in a form that are compliant with the ICO’s code, those opt-outs are not applied. If however the data is merely de-identified not to this standard then the objection or opt-out is applied.

Medical Records: Data Protection

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many applications have been made to NHS Digital and its predecessor bodies under section 10 of the Data Protection Act 1998 requesting that personal data is not processed.

Lord O'Shaughnessy: As of 12pm on 11 January 2017, 115 applications have been made to NHS Digital and its predecessor bodies under section 10 of the Data Protection Act 1998 requesting that personal data is not processed.

Medical Records: Data Protection

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many applications made to NHS Digital and its predecessor bodies under section 10 of the Data Protection Act 1998 requesting that personal data is not processed have been agreed to.

Lord O'Shaughnessy: As of 12pm on 11 January 2017, no applications made to NHS Digital and its predecessor bodies under section 10 of the Data Protection Act 1998 requesting that personal data is not processed have been agreed to. A section 10 request may not be upheld, however, patients have other options available to object to their personal data being shared. Under the NHS Constitution NHS Digital must consider patient wishes in a way that goes beyond the legal obligation set out in a section 10 request under the Data Protection Act 1998. The NHS Constitution states "You have the right to request that your confidential information is not used beyond your own care and treatment and to have your objections considered".